I've always wanted to go to New Orleans.
When we got to Baton Rouge, LA we were faced with a small decision. We could head East for a stop in New Orleans (NOLA) or we could head West towards our final destination of Houston.

I still hadn't received confirmation on whether or not the apartment I wanted would be available - or rather if my finances had been approved. This was making me mental. I was a little stress ball.

Since there was really no point in rushing to Houston without a solid place to land we figured we should enjoy ourselves and spend a day in New Orleans.

Enjoy ourselves we did.

We got in fairly late in the evening and immediately bunkered down in our hotel. This was mostly because I was driving and I had to pee really, really badly. So I flew into the first hotel parking lot I could find and raced to the bathrooms. No lie.

We woke up first thing in the morning with one thing on our minds. Beignets and Coffee at Cafe du Monde. We hauled butt into the middle of the city and sat down at the first available spot we could find on the terrace.

Here's the thing....I had really been dreaming of beignets at Cafe du Monde for a really long time and...my beignet experience just wasn't what I imagined. Don't get me wrong. The beignets were a treat. The coffee was delish. The people watching had potential for greatness. But...yes there's a but...

We were hustled right to our table. A very efficient Oriental waitress immediately brought beignets and coffee to our table. We had to pay right then. No one asked us if we wanted another.

So we wolfed down our beignets and chugged our coffee and left.

Like I said, it wasn't what I expected however; I'd go back again to wolf down beignets and chug some coffee!

Next stop? Signing up for a Double Decker Bus Ride. You know the dorky red ones that allow hop on hop off?

I've said it before and I'll say it again. If you're in a city for a day take the hop on hop off. You get to see so much more than you would on foot, it's a pay once mode of transportation (often times overseas you can use a credit card for the ticket which eliminates some need for foreign currency) and you get to learn a little history through headphones or a tour guide.

The only bummer about NOLA is that you can't go through The French Quarter - the streets are just too narrow. You get to see lots of other places / neighborhoods though....you even get to see Mardi Gras World where they build floats. I know you've been dying to go to Mardi Gras World (I really shouldn't joke. Some people probably are really excited about Mardi Gras World...)

Following our Bus Tour we did do a bit of walking on foot. We needed food. Badly. The hanger (you know...hunger induced anger) was quickly becoming an issue.

We settled on the Palace Cafe. Hallelujah. It was gooood. We started with a crabmeat cheesecake appetizer and then both dug into Poutine Po-Boys. It was scrumdiliumptious. For realsies.

A little more wandering around and we ended up back in the parking garage picking up our car. The ride to Houston was our crappiest drive of the trip. Pouring rain, lots of accidents and darkness...not ideal...

Sidenote: I really wish that I had added Eat a Beignet at Cafe du Monde to my 30x30 list.

Disclaimer. 90% of the photos were taken from the bus....don't judge the crookedness....